Recently, students from the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) won multiple awards at the 2025 International Design Awards (IDA), securing one Silver Award, two Bronze Awards, and two Honourable Mentions.
“I noticed that meditation and Zen-inspired practices are increasingly becoming a lifestyle choice among young people,” said Silver Award winner Lu Tang. “This inspired the overall design concept for Mu., a meditation speaker.” In her design, the speaker incorporates the ritualistic qualities of a singing bowl, using a gentle tap as the core interaction. Users synchronise their breathing with rhythm and sound, gradually restoring emotional balance and focus. Over time, the brass components naturally develop marks, making ideas such as growth, resilience, and the acceptance of imperfection tangible through visible traces of an ongoing, lived experience.
In Jiayi Li’s Bronze Award-winning work, HolaMind holographic speaker, virtual avatars move beyond science fiction to become a practical tool for emotional expression. “More and more people are sharing their feelings with AI,” Li explains. “During the sensitive and often turbulent teenage years, having a safe and inclusive space to express emotions helps to release tension and clarify thoughts.” Her design replaces traditional journaling with AI-driven dialogue, enhances interactivity through holographic visuals, and incorporates psychological models to guide emotions and provide positive feedback. This helps users to organise their thoughts and grow through self-expression.
Xin Weng’s Bronze Award-winning Flowing Sand Pavilion speaker is her first complete industrial design project and is inspired by her interest in health and emotional well-being. Its standout feature is the visualisation of sound waves. Vibrations travel through a transparent central structure, shaping ever-changing patterns in the metallic sand above and transforming sound into a visible and tangible experience. “Even those with hearing impairments can perceive changes through the movement and glow of the sand, experiencing emotional relief and positive effects,” Weng says, demonstrating how design can bridge perception and emotion.
Supervisors Amarpreet Gill and Yoke-Chin Lai noted that the key strength of the winning projects lies in their clear demonstration of the Product Design and Manufacture programme’s innovative and human-centred design ethos. Each project began with a familiar everyday product—in this case, a portable speaker—but moved well beyond form or technical refinement. Through the rigorous application of human-centred design methods, the students identified nuanced and often overlooked user needs, transforming a conventional product into a meaningful intervention that addresses broader societal, health and well-being challenges.
They added that it was particularly encouraging to see how effectively the students connected design decisions to real-world impact. The projects explicitly align with the Sustainable Development Goals, demonstrating strong awareness of social responsibility, inclusivity and long-term sustainability. This reflects the programme’s ambition to empower students to use design not only as a tool for innovation, but also as a driver of positive social change.
Participation in the competition was supported by the UNNC Education Foundation and the Department of Campus Life. Dr Jiang Wu, manager of UNNC Education Foundation’s International Design Competition Project, said, “By organising participation in leading international design competitions, we enable more students and supervisors to showcase their teaching and research outcomes on the global stage. This not only enhances students’ professional skills and competencies, but also fosters an innovative mindset and an international outlook with a focus on the future.”
Published on 23 February 2026